Leadership accountability in community-based forest management: Experimental evidence in support of governmental oversight

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Standard

Leadership accountability in community-based forest management : Experimental evidence in support of governmental oversight. / Kahsay, Goytom Abraha; Bulte, Erwin; Alpizar, Francisco; Hansen, Lars Gårn; Medhin, Haileselassie.

In: Ecology and Society, Vol. 28, No. 4, 20, 2023.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Kahsay, GA, Bulte, E, Alpizar, F, Hansen, LG & Medhin, H 2023, 'Leadership accountability in community-based forest management: Experimental evidence in support of governmental oversight', Ecology and Society, vol. 28, no. 4, 20. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-14469-280420

APA

Kahsay, G. A., Bulte, E., Alpizar, F., Hansen, L. G., & Medhin, H. (2023). Leadership accountability in community-based forest management: Experimental evidence in support of governmental oversight. Ecology and Society, 28(4), [20]. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-14469-280420

Vancouver

Kahsay GA, Bulte E, Alpizar F, Hansen LG, Medhin H. Leadership accountability in community-based forest management: Experimental evidence in support of governmental oversight. Ecology and Society. 2023;28(4). 20. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-14469-280420

Author

Kahsay, Goytom Abraha ; Bulte, Erwin ; Alpizar, Francisco ; Hansen, Lars Gårn ; Medhin, Haileselassie. / Leadership accountability in community-based forest management : Experimental evidence in support of governmental oversight. In: Ecology and Society. 2023 ; Vol. 28, No. 4.

Bibtex

@article{8ef7a1930b35433fad897100e82faefe,
title = "Leadership accountability in community-based forest management: Experimental evidence in support of governmental oversight",
abstract = "Evidence of the impact of community-based forest management (CBFM) on conservation outcomes is mixed. Local governance is a key moderating factor, but what constitutes good governance is still up for debate. Desirable institutional features typically arise endogenously, which complicates the analysis of causality. We use an experimental design to analyze the impact on environmental outcomes of adding an externally implemented monitoring regime to an existing CBFM initiative in Ethiopia. We distinguish between bottom-up and top-down monitoring to improve the accountability of local leaders. We find that enhanced bottom-up monitoring by community members does not affect forest outcomes, but top-down monitoring promotes forest conservation. We also identify a mechanism linking top-down monitoring to conservation: leaders work harder to protect the forest, which “crowds in” effort by community members. Our results are not about reducing the role of communities in forest management, they are a plea for oversight by the relevant authority to help communities overcome local power asymmetries.",
author = "Kahsay, {Goytom Abraha} and Erwin Bulte and Francisco Alpizar and Hansen, {Lars G{\aa}rn} and Haileselassie Medhin",
year = "2023",
doi = "10.5751/ES-14469-280420",
language = "English",
volume = "28",
journal = "Ecology and Society",
issn = "1708-3087",
publisher = "Resilience Alliance",
number = "4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Leadership accountability in community-based forest management

T2 - Experimental evidence in support of governmental oversight

AU - Kahsay, Goytom Abraha

AU - Bulte, Erwin

AU - Alpizar, Francisco

AU - Hansen, Lars Gårn

AU - Medhin, Haileselassie

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Evidence of the impact of community-based forest management (CBFM) on conservation outcomes is mixed. Local governance is a key moderating factor, but what constitutes good governance is still up for debate. Desirable institutional features typically arise endogenously, which complicates the analysis of causality. We use an experimental design to analyze the impact on environmental outcomes of adding an externally implemented monitoring regime to an existing CBFM initiative in Ethiopia. We distinguish between bottom-up and top-down monitoring to improve the accountability of local leaders. We find that enhanced bottom-up monitoring by community members does not affect forest outcomes, but top-down monitoring promotes forest conservation. We also identify a mechanism linking top-down monitoring to conservation: leaders work harder to protect the forest, which “crowds in” effort by community members. Our results are not about reducing the role of communities in forest management, they are a plea for oversight by the relevant authority to help communities overcome local power asymmetries.

AB - Evidence of the impact of community-based forest management (CBFM) on conservation outcomes is mixed. Local governance is a key moderating factor, but what constitutes good governance is still up for debate. Desirable institutional features typically arise endogenously, which complicates the analysis of causality. We use an experimental design to analyze the impact on environmental outcomes of adding an externally implemented monitoring regime to an existing CBFM initiative in Ethiopia. We distinguish between bottom-up and top-down monitoring to improve the accountability of local leaders. We find that enhanced bottom-up monitoring by community members does not affect forest outcomes, but top-down monitoring promotes forest conservation. We also identify a mechanism linking top-down monitoring to conservation: leaders work harder to protect the forest, which “crowds in” effort by community members. Our results are not about reducing the role of communities in forest management, they are a plea for oversight by the relevant authority to help communities overcome local power asymmetries.

U2 - 10.5751/ES-14469-280420

DO - 10.5751/ES-14469-280420

M3 - Journal article

VL - 28

JO - Ecology and Society

JF - Ecology and Society

SN - 1708-3087

IS - 4

M1 - 20

ER -

ID: 369912520